Gold Vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
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The color of the gold also tells a story. Impurities in the gold can cause each bar to exhibit a different colored hue. A greenish hue indicates iron in the gold, while red indicates copper. A whitish look to the gold can be caused by a silver or platinum alloy. Black gold results when the bar contains traces of bismuth, a basic metal used in magnets and alloys.
 Federal Reserve Bank Image |
Numismatic Exhibits
One of the great things about visiting the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the extraordinary exhibit on the history of money. The exhibit features some 800 coins and currency from the American Numismatic Society’s famous collection. What makes this exhibit special is the variety of items in the display from ancient coins to hard times tokens to some of today’s great numismatic rarities. One of my favorite items is the only "legal to own" 1933 St. Gaudens $20 gold double eagle that sold in 2002 for a then record of $7.5 million.
A Mindboggling Amount of Money
With over 200 million troy ounces of gold being stored at the New York Fed, the market value of all that gold today would lie in the vicinity of a quarter of a trillion dollars.
And that’s not all.
There is also a 3 story high vault for storing cash. Manned by robots and the size of a football field, the cash vault has the capacity to hold $350 billion dollars worth of U.S. currency. That’s more than the total market value of the gold.
So the next time you are in New York, make sure you stop by 33 Liberty Street for a visit and allow yourself to be taken in by the power of gold. Just don’t expect someone to offer you a "Hershey Bar" if you get hungry while you’re there.
Sources
Cannon, Gwen, ed. The Green Guide: New York City. New York: Michelin Apa Publications, 2007.
Carmichael, P. A. "Forts on Wheels Defy Bandits," Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 112, No. 6 (June 1928).
"How Uncle Sam Guards His Millions in Vaults of Federal Reserve Banks," Popular Mechanics, Vol. 55, No. 3 (March 1931).
The Key to the Gold Vault. New York: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Reprinted 2008.
World Gold Council. "Frequently Asked Questions." http://www.gold.org/faq/answer/76/how_much_gold_has_been_mined/ (accessed July 29, 2010).
Image Sources
Federal Reserve Bank images (see Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the United States Code).